WaterWork

WaterWork returns to the Seaholm Intake Facility on Lady Bird Lake this Friday and Saturday, with projections starting at 8:30 PM. It's an immersive art experience co-created by the cultural nonprofit Design Austin and The Trail Conservancy, the organization that maintains the 10-mile Ann and Roy Butler Trail around the lake. The show projects the work of 22 artists onto the facility's waterfront façade, turning the concrete structure into a canvas of light and motion.

The whole thing started with an idea from Design Austin founding board member Emily Eisenhart. She hit on it while on an architectural boat tour of the lake: the Seaholm Intake Facility is a gray mid-century concrete structure that pumped water for the downtown power plant for decades, and it's too historic for any permanent addition. Her solution was a temporary show using projection mapping, which lets the building play the part of a gallery without changing a thing about it. The work is part of the Butler Trail's Arts + Culture Program, an initiative meant to enrich the community and amplify local artists.

There are a few ways to take it in. You can watch from the shoreline at Auditorium Shores or from the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge, and there are boat cruises for those who'd rather see it from the water. It's free and open to the public, so you can just walk up and watch. The projections run Friday and Saturday at 8:30 PM.